Jason Kenney unleashed - why the former premier is speaking out about Alberta's future
In this episode of The Line Alberta podcast, Rob Breakenridge sits down for an in-person conversation with former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.As Alberta faces a possible independence referendum next year, Jason Kenney is becoming increasingly vocal about the need to take on the separatists and to make the case for a united Canada. We'll hear more from Mr. Kenney about why he's been more visible and more vocal these days, why he feels compelled to make the conservative case for a united Canada, and what's at stake for Alberta in a possible referendum campaign.He's also got plenty to say about the need for Ottawa to listen to and address Alberta's concerns and how the federal government - and other provincial governments - can help strengthen the case for national unity. We'll also hear his thoughts on what the separation debate in Alberta tells us about the struggle to control and define the conservative movement.
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Why Alberta invoked the notwithstanding clause - and why organized labour is so outraged
In this week’s episode of The Line: Alberta Podcast, Rob Breakenridge takes a closer look at the debate around the notwithstanding clause and Alberta’s decision to invoke Section 33 of the Charter as part of their back-to-work legislation to end the teachers’ strike. First of all, we’ll hear a defence of the notwithstanding clause and Alberta’s decision to apply it in this situation. We’ll hear from Geoffrey Sigalet, director of the UBC Research Group for Constitutional Law, an assistant professor of political science at UBC Okanagan, and senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute. He argues that Alberta is on solid legal and constitutional ground with its BIll 2.On the other side, however, the Alberta Federation of Labour is quite outraged over BIll 2, and the use of the notwithstanding clause specifically. They’re describing it as an attack on organized labour and labour rights in the province. The AFL has even raised the spectre of a general strike in response to the government’s actions. We’ll hear from AFL president Gil McGowan.
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Teachers strike ends, but tensions escalate - What the back-to-work legislation means
In this week’s episode of The Line: Alberta Podcast, Rob Breakenridge takes a closer look at the Alberta government’s decision to introduce back-to-work legislation. Alberta teachers went on strike over three weeks ago and after virtually no progress was made at the bargaining table, the Alberta government has taken the opportunity with the fall sitting of the Legislature underway to use the metaphorical hammer to end the strike. Bill 2, the Back to School Act, was tabled in the Legislature Monday afternoon. The expectation is that classes will resume on Wednesday (Oct. 29). In bringing an end to the strike, the government is taking two very controversial steps: they’ll be invoking the notwithstanding clause to shield the back-to-work legislation from a Charter challenge and they’ll also be imposing a four-year contract on teachers - the terms of which are very similar to those contained in the offer that was widely rejected by teachers in late September. Suffice to say, this will not go over well.In this episode, Rob speaks with Peter MacKay, an Alberta teacher who was previously lead negotiator for the Alberta Teachers Association. We’ll get his thoughts on how things got to this point, what led to the strike in the first place, and the pressures teachers are dealing with amid all of these unresolved issues.
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Digging into the details of the new report on Alberta’s healthcare procurement scandal
In this week’s episode of The Line: Alberta Podcast, Rob Breakenridge takes a closer look at the controversy surrounding procurement at Alberta Health Services and what we learned last week with the release of a major report into the matter.Retired Manitoba judge Raymond Wyant was brought in by the province to conduct a third-party investigation into the contract for the 2022 purchase of children’s pain medication, as well as contracts to conduct publicly-funded surgeries at private clinics.The report concludes that there were conflicts of interest and that policies were not followed, but it also found no evidence of wrongdoing by any elected officials or any political staffers. The premier's former chief of staff, Marshall Smith, has also denied any wrongdoing. The opposition, though, has pointed to limits in the scope of this investigation and say the report only strengthens the case for a public inquiry.In this episode, a conversation with Carrie Tait, reporter with the Calgary bureau of The Globe and Mail. She has done some important work on this story and helped bring many aspects of this controversy to light. We’ll get her insight on what this report uncovered, what questions remain unanswered, and where this whole scandal goes from here.
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Public dollars, private schools - does Alberta need to reconsider how it funds education?
In this week’s episode of The Line: Alberta Podcast, Rob Breakenridge takes a closer look at the debate around education funding in Alberta. The province-wide teachers’ strike has helped to illustrate some of the challenges and frustrations that have been building up in the public school system. Alberta’s population has risen rapidly in recent years, and it’s been a challenge for the system to keep up with sufficient space and teacher levels, leading to crowded classrooms and stressed out educators. Along the way, Alberta has seen its per-student education funding fall to the lowest of all the provinces.Alberta is also unique in the public dollars that support private education. That funding follows the student and represents 70 per of what the per-student public funding. The broader debate around education policy has drawn in this particular aspect of the Alberta system - should Alberta continue to spend public dollars on private education.In this episode, we’ll hear two different perspectives on that question. Alicia Taylor is a high school chemistry teacher in Calgary and is the organizer of a petition campaign that is hoping to use Alberta’s legislation to force a referendum on ending public funding of private schools. Meanwhile, Catharine Kavanagh is western stakeholder director at the think tank Cardus - they argue that Alberta’s emphasis on choice in education - and the diversity of options outside of the public system - delivers many benefits.
The Line: Alberta Podcast, hosted by veteran broadcaster and columnist Rob Breakenridge, is a weekly show that takes a closer look at stories that matter to Albertans and all Canadians. For more, go to Alberta.ReadTheLine.ca.
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